Say Something
by totheextraordinarykb
Summary: "She's still in shock from the enormity of what she's just let go." A future!fic.
1. Say Something

Disclaimer: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles or the song "Say Something" by A Great Big World, which you should listen to while reading this piece.

* * *

_Say something I'm giving up on you_

_I'll be the one if you want me to_

_Anywhere I would have followed you_

_Say something I'm giving up on you_

* * *

The front door slams hard enough to rattle the roof of the porch, and Jane winces with the feeling. She takes a breath and tries to step forward, down the steps and away from this place, but can't. Her legs won't carry her away from this home. She slides down Maura's front door, her hand over her mouth. She's not making a sound and there are no tears, not yet.

She's still in shock from the enormity of what she's just let go.

* * *

Jane held Maura close, brushing back her hair as the woman cried. Through sobs, she choked out the words, "I thought Brian was the one. He could have been the one. Jane, I LOVE him. But I think it's over this time."

Unseen or felt by Maura, Jane shrugged her shoulders up, her expression pained by the use of the word love. Her fingers tapped a path along Maura's arm, the other one tugging her closer against her chest. She spoke, a low murmur, designed to soothe. "Maura, I'm sorry. He's losing out. You're beautiful, intelligent, and perfect. You're everything anyone could ever have wanted and if he can't see that, he's an idiot." Jane took a deep breath. "Maura, I hope you know, anywhere you go, I will follow you."

Maura turned in her grasp to look at Jane more closely. "What are you implying, Jane?"

Jane bit her lip. "Damn it, Maura, do I have to spell it out?" Maura just looked at her. In a rush, relieved to finally put the words out in the universe, the sentence is accented by a squeeze of Maura's hand. "I'll be the one if you want me to."

Maura's face flickered for a brief moment, before she moved up in Jane's arms to be leave with her head. Her eyes traced a path between Jane's eyes and her lips. She raised her hand and moved it to Jane's cheek, resting it there lightly. The world slipped away around the pair, time having lost its meaning. A few tears trickled from Maura's eyes, and after a beat, Jane's fingertips chased after them, brushing them away. She lingered, and then slowly started to lean in.

The jarring sound of the telephone ringing startled them both, and Maura leapt from the couch to retrieve her iPhone from her purse in the kitchen, brushing away her tear tracks in the process. "Hello?" A gasp. "Brian..."

Maura shot Jane a look, before retreating to the entrance hall. Jane could still hear enough to guess at the conversation. He wanted Maura back. Again. And she was going to go back to him. Again. This was the third time Jane had been here for a break-up, and she had thought maybe it was the end for them.

Apparently not.

Jane rubbed her eyes until she saw stars on her eyelids, willing herself not to cry. "Damn it, you're a Rizzoli," she muttered to herself. She would not fall apart. She would be okay. Even if Maura went back to him, she'd be okay.

Maura's footfalls coming closer caused Jane to raise her head. "Okay, Brian. I'll be there in an hour." A pause. "Brian, I know, I love you too. I forgive you."

Jane shook her head, unbelieving. Really?

Maura hung up and looked at Jane, trying to figure out the right words. "He… he wants to talk about it."

Jane stood. "Well, I suppose I should let you get to it." Maura nodded, and Jane moved towards the door, picking up her badge and gun from the counter. Her hand on the doorknob, she turned. "I can't leave without an answer." Maura would not look at her straight, instead staring down at the phone in her hand. Jane took a step towards her. "Maura, come on." Her voice caught, desperation clear under the words. "Say something." When Maura looked up at her finally, she continued. "You heard me. I put it out there. Now say something, please."

Maura shook her head, wordless. Shock read on her face, and the tears started again. "Jane, I…"

Jane suddenly got angry, and threw up her hands. "Really? I'm your best friend. For all these years, I've been right here." Her voice lowered. "You can't tell me you don't see that. I've just been waiting for you to notice me, the fact that I'm inexplicably, completely fucking in love with you."

Maura choked back a sob at Jane's declaration of love. "But, you heard… Brian's coming back." She twisted her hands, composing the right words, before she shook her head. "Jane, I can't. Think of everything we'd be giving up."

Rushing forward, Jane took up Maura's hands between hers. "Maura, you are everything." Maura pulled out of her grasp, turning her back on Jane. "Maura." When the woman didn't respond but to bury her head in her hands, Jane got louder. "Maura, damn it, say something." Jane moved closer, only inches away. "You can't lie. Tell me you don't feel the same way. Say that."

Maura won't speak, and it's an answer in and of itself. And Jane whispered, "And you're choosing him anyway?" A nod was Maura's answer.

Jane breathed deeply. "You're a coward." Maura wheeled around, pushing Jane backwards against the front door. Her hand on Jane's chest, she stared into Jane's eyes. Her eyes travelled to Jane's lips, and in a second, she's against them: a kiss filled with anger and passion and - Jane was positive she could taste it - love. Shocked, her palms are still flat against the door where she braced herself at Maura's anger. But emboldened by the kiss, Jane stepped forward, moving her arms around Maura, pulling her in closer.

Maura sighed into the kiss as Jane's tongue against hers, and melted for a moment. But she recovered, pushing back on Jane's shoulders, breaking the kiss. She reached behind her, pulling Jane's arms from around her, and stepped back, away from her best friend. She still has not spoken.

Jane stood there for a moment, heart beating fast, before she twisted her hands together. The pads of her fingers scrapping against the scars on her palms, she felt her heart snap into place. Facing Maura, whose eyes were filled with tears and a trace of anger, she spoke calmly, a scary serene in her tone. "Say something, or I'm giving up on you."

Maura doesn't speak, just leaned forward to open the door and gestured for Jane to leave. A single backwards step later and Jane knew in her heart, she's taken the final step across Maura's threshold. She longed to hold Maura's gaze, but instead Jane turned. The door slammed behind her.

* * *

Still leaning against the front door, Jane swallows hard, determined not to fall apart completely on Maura's porch. Whispering, she speaks the last words she'll ever say on the property. "You're the one that I love," her voice catches, "And I'm saying goodbye."

She propels herself upwards, forces herself not to look backwards, and walks away.

Inside, Maura is leaning against the door, forehead pressed against it, and she feels the vibrations as Jane stands up. She's crying again, but she manages to speak four words. "I love you Jane." Her last word is formed on an exhalation, barely escaping.

"Goodbye."

* * *

_And I will swallow my pride_

_You're the one that I love_

_And I'm saying goodbye_

* * *

Author's Note: I hope I did the song justice. I listened to it and thought it was remarkable how NATURAL the words were - that these are the words you might say if you were down to your last straw and you just had to get someone to SEE. Many of Jane's words are directly quoted from the song - I can identify all of them if you wish. That was the point... see how lyrics can translate into our lives.

I have an idea in my head about potentially exploring the idea of Maura's side of this/reactions using another song, but I'm not sure if there's any interest.

Please review if you're willing. I'm actually really interested to hear people's opinions about this exercise, and you'll warm my heart. If you have any thoughts about a potential second chapter/Maura's side, please let me know. I can only get better with your help, dear readers.

Last, but of course not least - THANK YOU.


	2. Recessional

__Author's Note: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles or "Recessional" by Vienna Teng. Again, you should listen to that song while reading this piece.

* * *

_"It's so beautiful here," she says,  
"This moment now and this moment, now."  
And I never thought I would find her here_

* * *

It's been three mouths since she broke them. Maura had never believed in metaphors, never understood how people talked about heartbreaks in a literal sense. But now she understands.

In a single night, she had taken a sledgehammer and shattered whatever she and Jane had shared.

* * *

_The day afterwards, Frost came to the morgue for the pathology results, biting his tongue, keeping from asking what had happened between Jane and Maura. He'd excused himself once she had handed over the file, and she turned back to the DNA analysis she had been running. Her hands shook for a moment before they steadied._

_It took two weeks before she saw Jane. She was crouched next to the deceased, but retreated when she heard the clack of Maura's heels. Jane did not look at her once, did not speak to Maura directly ever. Maura couldn't stop staring at every motion Jane made, memorizing the cant of her voice when she talked to Korsak and Frost and barked orders at the techs. When she exited the crime scene, Maura felt her heart constrict and her pulse quicken._

_That night, she called off the engagement with Brian, had stated that she just couldn't do this, that she wanted to be alone, that she should be alone. He'd protested a little, weakly, but in the end, he left without much of a fight. She sensed relief in him, his shoulders loosening, his eyes a little brighter. He was free now._

_And she was lost._

* * *

Now Maura sits in the cafe, smiling without it reaching her eyes, as Angela slides a plate of bunny pancakes, telling her that there's nothing bunnies can't cure. She knows Angela understands that Jane and Maura have fought, but the woman still hasn't picked favorites.

These are the moments when Maura knows she was right to push away Jane. Angela would never understand if Maura and Jane became a couple. Her beliefs wouldn't allow her to accept it, her views of the ideal life structured around traditional family values. If they got together, Jane would lose her mother and probably her whole family, in exchange for just Maura. Before Maura met the Rizzoli's, she might have assumed that wouldn't be a difficult loss. But now? She could never be so selfish as to ask Jane to give up that love just for Maura.

And the precinct – Jane had enough trouble warding off the catcalls of 'dyke', had enough trouble earning respect from men who dismissed her because of her gender. Her job would get that much more difficult if everyone at the precinct saw them together.

Let alone having to deal with Maura herself. Her social awkwardness, her lack of awareness about how to properly love, her google mouth, her quirks, her need to correct people, her neurotic behavior...

No, Maura thinks, as she cuts the pancakes, I made the right choice. I made sure Jane has a family.

* * *

_Last week, Maura went to a baseball game, sat up in the top of the stadium. She watched without much interest in the game itself. Instead, she leaned back, closing her eyes. When the crowd groaned, she could hear Jane's voice, swearing at the TV, hitting Frankie out of frustration. And then it was easier to smile, to forget for a moment that she'd never have that again._

_Last month, she sat in the park closest to Jane's apartment, the one Jane would cut through every time she made a run shorter. She read a book, forcing herself not to look up, so that every person running by was her, was Jane, and the illusion couldn't be shattered._

_And at least once a week, she would choose a bar, picked out carelessly. Sitting in a booth alone, she'd drink a Blue Moon, ordering an extra for an imaginary Jane, before downing it herself as well. The taste was growing on her, and she wished she could tell Jane that. Instead, she whispered it into the ears of the few women who hit on her, before taking her leave._

* * *

She walks to the counter of the cafe, paying Angela. "Can I get a water bottle?" Angela smiles and hands over one, waving away the extra money. Maura slips it into the tip jar before she exits the precinct.

Today, she's not going to one of Jane's places. She's going to one of hers for the first time since that night.

The drive is quick, and she finds a parking spot almost immediately – a minor miracle in a city like Boston. She strides down Long Wharf, all the way to the edge of the half-mile pier.

This is the one place where she excuses herself from proper manners, sliding off her shoes and sitting on the planks at the very edge of the piers, legs dangling over the side. She always toys with the idea of jumping off for a swim, before statistics about boating accidents and the lingering fuel vestiges in the water ensure that she will not.

Maura loses herself in the water, tracking the small fish as they dive out of sight and then come back up towards the surface again. Sometimes she'll look out at the water, tracking the movements of the boats, trying to identify the make and models of each one. She misses sailing, she realizes today, and she resolves to look up how feasible it would be to dock somewhere a little outside of the city, where the prices are lower.

The time passes, and she has no idea how long she's been there, leaning against the pole next to her, when someone sits down next to her. She startles, pulling her things closer to her, ready to flee from this stranger, before she sees who it is.

It's Jane, and that doesn't help her relax.

It's Jane, and she's not smiling.

They sit in silence for a while, the tension palatable, and Maura's made up her mind, she's going to move, she's going to leave, when Jane speaks. "It's so beautiful here."

Maura stares. These are the first words Jane's said to her since she spoke in that scary calm, telling her to say something or she was giving up. Finally, Maura speaks. "Yes, it is."

Jane turns and Maura, even as she avoids meeting her gaze, feels her heart skip a beat, thinks that she should go to the cardiologist because certainly such action is cause for alarm, before she forces herself back to the present. Jane's still looking at her, and Maura feels it cut straight to her center. Meeting her eyes, there is no room for any other thought other than being here now, in this moment, this beautiful moment.

And Maura can't remember the reason why she isn't kissing Jane already.

Jane looks away, and Maura's eyes fall to Jane's lap, where she is twisting her hands, rubbing at the scar tissue. Without her gaze, Maura's mind works, she remembers why she doesn't want this – even though she knows she desperately does.

Jane shifts. "You look good."

Maura speaks truthfully. "You look exhausted."

Jane grunts. "Yeah. Not sleeping right." She waits a moment. "Why did you finally come back here today?"

"Because it's calm. Because it's my place to think. Because –" she pauses, calculating. "How did you know I haven't been here?"

Jane stares down at the water. "Because I've been here a lot."

The words pound through Maura's head. She's been here a lot. She's been to Maura's spot. She's been here. Maybe it means nothing.

She should leave.

But she can't move. She's afraid to. Maybe it means nothing.

But maybe it means everything.

Maura forces herself to speak. "You should sleep more."

Under her breath, Jane mutters, "If only it were so simple."

Maura hesitates, but acts, emboldened by Jane's presence here at all. She pulls on Jane's arm lightly, ignoring the way the brunette's muscles tense under her ahnd, until Jane is crookedly leaning against her, her head on Maura's shoulder. "Why don't you just rest for a moment?" she murmurs.

Jane is tense for a few more moments, before she lets out the breath she's been holding. "Okay."

Maura forces herself to look out at the ocean, because when she's looking at Jane, she can't remember anything: why she doesn't want this, why she doesn't want the relationship, why she can't have her. She forgets. And Maura doesn't forget anything.

After a while, Maura looks down at the brunette. Her hair is falling forward, her mouth askew. Jane's asleep. She sleeps through the blare of a ship's horn, the chatter of children chasing seagulls. She sleeps through a siren blaring in the distance. She dreams through the noise, her weight against Maura, her face pressed into the fabric on her shoulder.

And Maura's petrified to move. She tells herself a mantra: _you can't have her, you can't have her, you can't make her give up her family, the respect she's earned at her job. You can't have her, you can't._

_You can't, you can't, you can't._ She shakes with the force of her conviction, with the tension of trying to keep contained, to keep from blurting out just how much she loves Jane.

The shaking wakes Jane, slowly, languidly, without a rush, until she realizes where she is, who she is leaning against. She jumps up with a start, retreats until she's at least five feet away. She stops, offers a goodbye to Maura, who's still sitting, who is still staring out at the water so as not to show Jane her silent tears: "Well, anyway, I'll see you around…" and like that, she's gone again.

And Maura's resolve breaks, and she sobs, as she whispers to the fish under her feet, "I love you, I love you, I love you."

* * *

_Maybe it means nothing,  
__Maybe it means nothing,  
__Maybe it means nothing,  
__But I'm afraid to move.__  
_

* * *

Author's Note: I'm not as happy with this chapter as I was with the first, but did you know that there are apparently no songs (or at least none I could find on the internet) about loving someone so much you push them away because you think that's better for them? But there are DOZENS of songs about staying with someone even though they're hurting you? ARGH.

I love this song though, and I hope I did it justice, because it is incredibly near and dear to my heart. I thought there was a certain Maura-esque quality to it, and I thought the music and Vienna's voice - with its speed and ability to bound from one thought to another - was well suited to Maura's mind. (Honorable mentions for songs I was considering go to "Your Guardian Angel" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and "Stay" by Hurts.) Again, I co-opted many of the lines from the songs for the dialogue/Maura's thoughts, for the purpose of showing how lyrics can be so true to our lives.

I'm planning on at least one more chapter, still grabbling with whether I'd like it to be two. I'm not promising a fluffy ending, but I promise they won't be quite so shattered by the conclusion.

Thanks for sticking with this experiment. I'm really enjoying it - I've found myself listening to songs and thinking about how I could write them into stories. ;)


	3. I Choose You

Author's Note: I don't own Rizzoli & Isles or any of the songs mentioned within (all of which can be found at the bottom of this chapter).

* * *

_I'd like to know that your love is love that I can be sure of  
__So tell me now, and I won't ask again:  
__Will you still love me tomorrow?_

* * *

They coexist.

It's the best way either of them can explain it.

It's been six months since that night and Jane and Maura have come to accept this new rhythm to their lives. Ma still lives in Maura's guesthouse and Sunday dinners are held in Maura's dining room. Most of those nights, Maura purposefully schedules a late night autopsy to avoid the dinners but when she can't, the two have found it's not nearly as awkward as they thought it would be.

At work, they are cordial, professional. Jane is once again Maura's normal point of access for the team. They've learned to tolerate each other's working rhythms - Maura is willing to entertain a few of Jane's theories, while Jane respects Maura's need for hard evidence.

Sometimes they even joke, and for a second, as both their eyes sparkle with amusement, they forget that their relationship was ever upended. Maura thinks it's those moments that are the hardest: right when reality clicks back in and the hurt shines in Jane's eyes before she tempers it. Maura always averts her eyes before Jane can see the same hurt reflected in the blonde's.

Because if Maura's learned anything in the past six months, it's that she's hopelessly in love with Jane and she's not sure why she didn't realize that sooner

Everyone in their lives tries to encourage the two to speak frankly. Ma points out to Jane that Maura hasn't dated anyone. Frost comes to autopsies just to talk about how much more pleasant Jane is when Maura's the lead ME on the case. Korsak tries to orchestrate alone time between the two: in the break room, at the Dirty Robber's, even at crime scenes. Frankie tells Maura frankly that Jane hasn't told him anything, but Maura's the only person he approves of for his big sister. They all tell them to say something before it's too late.

Maura thinks to herself that she'd love to say something, but she missed that chance six months ago. Jane thinks that she already did say something, she put her heart out there, and she's not going to do it again. Ever.

And so, even though they both love the other, the status quo holds.

It takes a shooting to break the stalemate.

* * *

They're called to an alley. Maura arrives first and examines the body, finding a wallet. When Frost and Jane arrive on scene, she points it out to them. Inside is a driver's license: James O'Connor, 34, from Beacon Hill.

Jane asks for a cause of death as she crunches next to the body. Noting the holes in his collared shirt, she smirks. "Like maybe multiple GSWs?" she notes dryly.

Maura looks at her. "He was shot at close range, and it appears those were cause of death, but I'll know for certain once I open him up."

Jane nods and calls out to uniforms. "We're looking for shell casings, at least -" she pauses to count the wounds, "four, but keep your eyes peeled. There could be more." She turns back to Maura. "Any indications to time of death?"

Maura begins to respond but they're both distracted when a uniform shouts, "Hey I found one over-" The uniform falls in a graceful arc as the noise of a gunshot rebounds around the small space.

Jane acts first, as always. "DOWN!" She pushes Maura to the ground before she tries to find cover. There's a dumpster to their right. "Maura, go." She points her in the right direction.

As Maura crawls, Jane gets on the radio, yelling. "Shots fired! Officer down! Backup and EMS needed! NOW!" She turns to her partner who has hunkered down behind some garbage cans. "Frost! Got eyes on him yet?" He points and she follows his line of sight to a second floor series of windows. It takes a moment before she sees the flash of a rifle, but it's enough for her. She takes aim and fires multiple shots – she hears more gunshots than her own, and she's not sure if it's the subject's or other officers' guns – but she fires four shots before she sees him fall.

All the officers wait for a moment, holding for orders, and once it's apparent that it was a lone gunman, Jane nods – all clear. The alley erupts in motion as more officers swarm in, securing the scene. Jane turns to Maura, and sees the doctor's mouth open in a wide gasp. She examines the doctor's body, trying to find the source, before she sees what Maura's gripping tightly – her thigh, where blood is rushing out.

"It must have –" she gasps sharply as Jane takes over putting pressure on the wound, "my femoral artery." Jane just looks down on the wound and the red seeping between her fingers. "I'm bleeding out."

"Like hell you are," Jane mutters, before making eye contact with Frost, who looks a little green. "Frost. Get medics, NOW." She turns back to Maura. "Come on, Maura. Keep talking to me. What can I do?"

"I need a tourniquet," she says.

"Okay. Okay." Jane motions to one of the uniforms, who brings over the emergency med kit they all carry in case of injury. "Okay, I can do this." She grabs the tourniquet, wraps it around Maura's legs, pulls it tight, and then makes eye contact. "This is going to hurt." Maura nods, and Jane twists the tourniquet once as Maura yells out. Jane's hands shake and she contemplates stopping there.

"It needs another twist." Maura says at Jane's inaction.

Jane looks down at the device. How can she cause her pain again? But the wound is still bleeding, and she has to control it. "Okay. One, two, three," and she twists again, secures the device, and applies pressure again. She looks up at Maura's pale face, her breathing shallow. "Come on, Maura. Stay with me, okay?" Her grip tightens around the wound and she concentrates hard on stopping all the bleeding, as if she could cauterize the severed arteries and veins with the force of her stare alone.

Maura needs her to stop being so worried. But more than that, Maura needs her to know. Just in case… "Jane." She waits until the brunette looks up. "I'm saying something."

"Maura, shut up." The sky's getting darker, clouds forming overhead, and Jane feels the darkness burrowing its way into her.

"No, Jane. I want to tell you-" Maura's voice catches on a shaky exhale. Her voice takes on a trace of sorts. "Here is what I say to the girl who was shining so brightly like the light from Orion above: I choose you." Jane's confused – Maura's never so poetic – but she sees the spark in Maura's eyes, and even though she wants to speak, she listens instead. "My whole heart will be yours forever. I love you."

Jane shakes her head, whispering, "Don't do this now. Don't do this like this, Maura."

"Shut up, Jane." There's an edge of steel to her voice. "I want you to know this. I choose you. I will prove my love to you."

"Maura – if you're serious, tell me later." When you're safe, if you're safe… the words are unspoken but they linger in the air between the two women. "Tell me then. If not, then I'll forget it, okay? Shock and all." The sirens sound, and Jane turns, and sees the lights and the paramedics rushing towards them. "Just be okay." Jane releases her hold on Maura's leg as the paramedics kneel down next to her, and she backs away, slowly.

Maura nods once to Jane, even though she's already across the alley, and then her vision blurs. Through the fuzz she's aware of the action around her, paramedics asking questions and checking the wound, of Jane frozen across the alley, of Frost and Korsak and other officers taking notes, and then her eyes start to shut and she can't fight it anymore, the pain and blood loss finally getting the better of her.

The paramedics load Maura onto the stretcher and rush away, and Jane's still frozen against the alley wall, looking down at the place where she had been. She whispers out to the dark. "Will you still love me tomorrow?"

The words she heard – they're everything and nothing.

* * *

Maura and Jane don't see each other for weeks. Jane's staying away, unable to bear seeing Maura hurt, unable to see her face in case Maura takes back what she said.

Maura doesn't call her. Her fingers hover over the speed dial, but then she throws away the phone before she can press the button. She says to herself it's because she wants to get back her coloring, then that she wants to be able to stand, then walk without a limp, that she wants to put on heels… an endless checklist to accomplish before she can say all that she wants to say.

It takes seven weeks, but Maura is ready. She's going back to work next week, but there is something more important to accomplish first; and she smiles to herself, because finally something – anything – is more important than her job.

Because Jane is…

Jane is everything.

* * *

Maura stands at the door to Jane's apartment, steeling herself. It's time, she thinks. She lifts a hand and knocks politely, lightly, before nerves command that she do more. Her knuckles hit the wood at a furious pace, before she hears Jane coming. "Okay, okay, I'm coming, hold your horses, Ma."

The door opens, and Jane freezes, trying to make sense of Maura's presence on her doorstep, seven weeks after that day in the alley. Maura looks at her for a moment, relishing the ability to stare deep into Jane's eyes, before she glances at the brunette's lips. She lifts her eyes to Jane's again, and it sparks action.

Rushing forward, she grabs Jane's face, kissing her deeply.

Pulling back just slightly, enough to break the kiss, Maura speaks. "As long as it takes," she whispers against Jane's lips, "I will prove my love to you."

Jane smiles lightly, "I never thought I'd find you here." Her hand lightly traces Maura's jaw, before she pulls back further, putting a foot of space between them. Her face contorts, "I will stumble and fall, Maura. I'm still learning to love."

Maura's thumbs trace the worry lines on Jane's forehead and smiles. "You're the one that I love." She leans her forehead against Jane. "A promise a girl says forever, a girl says whatever may come we'll come through… Jane, this is the promise I make to you."

Jane smiles lightly, brushing her lips against Maura's again. "I love you."

Her eyes light up with a childish joy when Maura repeats the sentiments. "I love you too." Maura smiles. "I get poetry now: Oh words, like rain, how sweet the sound." She giggles. "Your words are like a song."

The door closes behind the women as they move into the apartment, into their new lives.

* * *

_You kiss me  
__With your kiss my life begins  
__You're spring to me, all things to me  
__Don't you know: you're life itself._

* * *

The songs used in this chapter are: "Say Something", "I Choose You", "Recessional", "Why Stay?/A Promise", "Wild is the Wind", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" From the time Maura starts to confess onward, every single line spoken (almost) is a quote from one of these songs. I wanted to see if I could get the characters to be in character while borrowing other people's words, since that was how the piece was originally convinced (with "Say Something"). I'm not sure I totally succeeded, but the writing challenge was a lot of fun.

Reviews, both negative and positive, are always appreciated. However, I will ask that if you want to say something negative, you at least try and explain why you don't like it or how you think I could do it better - there's nothing more frustrating than getting a review that says "Ur writing suks" without any explanation for how I could improve my  
"suk"-y writing. I WANT to get better! I like that not everyone likes this piece. I just need to better understand what you don't like.

I could be convinced to write a very fluffy epilogue (I have a song or two in mind for it) but for now, I'm going to mark the story as complete.

THANK YOU for reading and coming on this little journey with me. :)


End file.
